Fish in Parchment with Vegetables

This versatile one-packet meal is quick, easy, healthy, and delicious. Here's how to cook fish in parchment with vegetables. You can use any fish you like.

All summer, I enjoy cooking fish on the grill. When winter rolls around and cooking outdoors is no longer an option, I’m left looking for easy preparations to keep fish as a regular part of my diet. The ingredients in this recipe are versatile, and the preparation lends itself to whatever kind of fish you like, paired with whatever you have in your refrigerator.

For this recipe, I used cod, which is very mild and will take on the flavors of whatever you cook it with, but halibut or salmon would also work.

A bonus is the fact that you have a complete meal all in one packet. One packet is enough for two people, or you can make more depending on how many people you are serving. You can also cut the recipe in half if you are cooking for one. Using foil and parchment makes cleanup a snap.

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Ingredients

• 1 lb. of cod 
• 2 medium red potatoes
• 2 medium carrots
• 1 large shallot
• 4 cups (about 2 big handfuls) fresh spinach-arugula mixture (or just spinach)
• 3 to 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 to 2 sprigs fresh basil
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Zest from one lemon plus slices
• Splash of white wine (optional)

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Directions

Preheat your oven to 400. Wash and thinly slice the potatoes. Line a large baking sheet with foil. Arrange the potatoes in a single layer, brush with some of the olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Turn the potatoes over and repeat. Place them in your oven for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes start to get soft. You don’t want to cook them all the way through. 

While the potatoes are cooking, thinly slice the shallot. Wash and peel the carrots, cut in half lengthwise, lay them on their flat side, and thinly slice across on a diagonal. 

• Remove the potatoes from oven and maintain temperature. 
• Take a roughly 18-inch-long piece of parchment and fold it in half. 
• Transfer the potatoes to the center of one half of the parchment, arranging in a single layer (it’s OK to overlap a bit).
• Arrange the shallot slices on top of the potatoes. 
• Distribute carrot slices over the shallots. 
• Place your greens in a mound over the carrots. 
• Drizzle the stack with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. 
• Place the fish on top of the greens.
• Zest the lemon over the fish. Season with a little more olive oil, salt, and pepper.
• Arrange the whole sprigs of basil and thyme on top. Place 4 or 5 thin slices of lemon on top and splash with white wine (about a tablespoon).

Fold the other half of the parchment over the fish and vegetables. With the fold in the paper on your left, and starting at the side away from you, fold the parchment a couple of times toward the fish. Fold the top right corner in diagonally a couple of times. Continue folding around the packet until it is completely sealed.

You can use binder or paper clips to make sure your packet doesn’t unfold during cooking. You don’t want steam to escape.

Put the packet on the foil-lined cookie sheet and place it in the oven. After 10 minutes, reduce heat to 350. Cook another 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fish. You’ll know it’s done when you can hear it simmering in the packet, you can smell it, and the parchment starts to brown.

Remove the packet from your oven and carefully unfold the parchment. Discard basil and thyme. Serve directly from the packet with lemon as garnish.

Serves three.

Each serving contains about:

• 311 calories
• 10 g fat (1 g saturated)
• 65 mg cholesterol
• 131 mg sodium
• 31 g carbohydrate
• 31 g protein

This dish is also high in potassium and vitamin A.

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